Jeremy Brevard – USA Today Sports Images
The 2013 NBA offseason is likely going to be an active one for the Charlotte Bobcats. They’ve already started it off in the past month or so by firing Mike Dunlap and bringing in Steve Clifford as their new head coach. The Bobcats also have the fourth pick in the 2013 NBA Draft and could potentially have up to $21 million of cap-space to operate with in free agency.
There’s no doubt that the Bobcats, even with their history and status as a small-market organization, have the opportunity to add talent and improve their roster this offseason. They will be looking to bolster up their paltry frontcourt and need to add elite shooters on the wing. However, none of that is going to matter if Clifford doesn’t get Charlotte playing smarter on offense.
In light of the advanced metrics boom in basketball over the past few years, one of the things that has been established is that corner threes and shots at the rim are the two most valuable and efficient ways of scoring. Also coming to light is the lack of value in mid-range shot attempts, as teams rarely shoot those shots at a high percentage and they are worth the same amount of points at shots in the restricted area.
According to the shot distribution in terms of where shots were taken by the Bobcats in the 2012-2013 season, though, they didn’t embrace these new findings. Last season, Charlotte took 2312 shot attempts inside the restricted area, which was actually the seventh most in the league. However, they shot the worst percentage in the league in the restricted area, shooting just 55.3 percent from that area as a team, a number largely indicative of their lack of post scorers. The fact that the Bobcats were looking for shot attempts in the restricted area is a positive sign, though.
The troubling part of the Bobcats offense from last season is that they took 910 shot attempts in the paint, but outside of the restricted area and shot just 33.5 percent on those shots. They also took 2028 mid-range jumpers this past year, converting on just 38 percent of those attempts. Meanwhile, they converted on 39.8 percent of their corner threes, but took the third fewest in the NBA at just 294 attempts.
The Bobcats took entirely too many shots last season outside of the restricted area and not from the corner. Looking at the best offenses in the league like the Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and so on, those teams all highly utilized the corner three and shots at the rim, while limiting their mid-range shot attempts.
Obviously, not having high-caliber players puts the Bobcats at a disadvantage, but the real issue was the offensive philosophy of Charlotte last season. Dunlap didn’t institute an offense that allowed them to get open threes in the corner or shots at the rim, but rather allowed his team to settle for mid-range shots.
Looking ahead to next season, Clifford has to do a better job of coaching in that he needs to set the Bobcats up for shots at the rim and corner threes with his offensive scheme. Considering his tenure as an assistant under Stan Van Gundy, who embraced these advanced metrics with the Orlando Magic back in the day, it seems likely that Clifford might make that happen.
Fixing the shot selection of the Bobcats won’t be a cure-all by any means. They still are one of the worst defensive units in the league and routinely were killed on the boards throughout last season. However, if they can get their offense playing smarter and taking more valuable shots, that would be a good start in the rebuilding process.
Cody Williams is an NBA Blogger with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20 and like his Facebook page.
